Churchill Downs suspends turf racing for at least 2 weeks

Churchill Downs Racetrack has suspended racing over its new turf course, which opened at the beginning of the 2022 spring meet. Racing will be off the grass for at least two weeks.

“In order to allow our new turf course to continue to develop its root system, we have suspended turf racing for the next two weeks,” said Churchill Downs President Mike Anderson in a Saturday morning news release from the racetrack.

“The new Bermuda-hybrid grass was installed last fall and will continue to mature during the very warm days and weeks ahead. We’ve made a long-term investment in our turf course, and we’re confident this brief pause will allow it to become more robust.”

According to a notice provided to Churchill Downs horsemen on Saturday, all scheduled turf races in its third condition book, starting with entries taken on June 11, will be run at the same distance on the main track.

The track had previously published on its overnights that it would limit turf usage to a maximum of two races per day for the rest of the spring meet, and had provided a list of races in condition books two and three that would be run on dirt instead of turf.